From the racetrack to the silver screen, Prefix Corporation’s automotive solutions can do it all
Where power and precision meet prototypical prowess, Prefix Corporation (Prefix) is a solutions provider to many industries where excellence isn’t a choice: it’s expected. Owned and operated by Zeile family for nearly 50 years, Prefix provides custom manufacturing, prototype and concept vehicle solutions to the automotive, aviation and entertainment sectors. From cutting-edge cars to Hollywood props, the business is trusted by some of the world’s biggest names, working closely with industry leaders such as Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Disney, and continues to impress its customers with its technologically advanced approach and passion for performance.
With the business now in its 46th year, Manufacturing Today sat down with Eric Zeile, President at Prefix, to discuss the driving force behind the company’s success, as he details some of business’ ongoing partnerships and hints at what the future might hold. Eric begins by reflecting on Prefix’s history and journey to success. 
“My father started the company in 1979, and we’ve seen a lot of transformation over the years,” Eric says. “We started out providing engineering services in the 80s and 90s, until my dad connected with some other folks in the industry and developed a product called the Programmable Vehicle Model, or PVM. The PVM was, essentially, an adjustable interior mock-up for studying the ergonomics of the inside of a vehicle, designed so that OEMs could move the property around to different configurations to understand what consumers liked and disliked about their interior cabin environments. It was one of the first products we created and was highly successful; my father sold it to OEMs across the world for well over a decade. However, because they’ve lasted so long and every OEM has them, there is seldom a need to build multiples each year. We really found the need to diversify at that point, and we started to get more into the building of mock-ups and properties supporting the automotive industry. We started adding new capabilities, including CNC machining and composite layups, and kept expanding from there until we were able to make physical properties, such as instrument panel mock-ups, seating and interior mock-ups, ultimately leading to a full-concept vehicle built from nothing but CAD data.
“Over the years, we’ve added many more departments, covering everything from CNC machining to rapid prototyping, interior trim, paint, and lighting, allowing us to build a full vehicle from data in-house. We have low-volume manufacturing capabilities, with an emphasis on paint development and applications to high-end vehicles, such as for Mercedes and Cadillac. We aren’t a high-volume production operation; we really consider ourselves a custom solutions provider.”
With three state-of-the-art facilities across Michigan, Prefix’s vast scope of capabilities is unmatched. From initial design to advanced composites, interior and exterior assembly all the way up to complete concept vehicles and prototypes, Prefix offers fully comprehensive solutions that are innovative, bespoke and truly world class. Its dedication to low-volume manufacturing means that every component is crafted with immense care, expertly engineered to the specification at hand, and the company is constantly investing in improving and enhancing its production processes even further. For instance, Prefix has significantly invested in new automations for its Auburn Hills location – an extraordinary 130,000 square foot, world-class paint operation.
“Over the years, we’ve added several automated elements to the business. We had a Jeep program producing half doors for the Wrangler and Gladiator, which required a hem seal to secure the inner and outer sheet metal before we painted it. For that, we used a hem seal robot, which applied the sealant around the doors on a rotating machine,” Eric explains. “We also designed and built an automated body-in-white paint line, based on a process flow that was specifically designed for our Mercedes program, although it’s applicable to other programs as well. It’s a 220 foot long, eight cell paint line with two automated stations for base coat and clear coat applications. There are two paint robots in each of those cells that work together to give a unique, high-end application. It’s harder to implement automation when you’re low volume as a lot of our applications are done by hand, but we’re finding ways to introduce it wherever our clients have a need.
“Our paint line was a very expensive investment designed to increase our capacity for the future. Additionally, we’ve invested around $5 million into replacing most of our CNC machines, in both the prototype and low-volume manufacturing areas, and that’ll be particularly important for our future growth. Put together, these will present new opportunities for us, particularly in the entertainment, military defense and aerospace industries.”
Thanks to its ongoing commitment to innovation, Prefix has recently worked in partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac on two flagship vehicle programs, which have been particularly exciting for the business.
“Our projects with Mercedes and Cadillac have been good programs for us. We’ve really appreciated supporting both of those customers; it’s been great to work with Mercedes with their Maybach models,” Eric shares. “We’ve worked with General Motors for decades, and with Cadillac specifically since 2019. Our partnership will be the first, full-scale paint program on the Cadillac Celestiq. We plan to work on one to two vehicles a day; we’ll machine a few of the aluminum components on the outside of the vehicle, which will be hand-sanded, laser-etched, anodized, and clear coated before they’re installed, and we’ll also do a full exterior paint of the vehicle. It’s a very customizable, high-end process where customers can choose from an enormous color palette. It’s been a great partnership.”
Equipped with cutting-edge technology and a 300-strong team, Prefix is fully fueled for the future. With Eric in the driver’s seat, the business is set to build on its past legacies and continue to support its clients and thrill their end customers. Eric concludes our conversation by sharing the company’s priorities for the years ahead.
“We’ll be ramping up and launching the Cadillac Celestiq program. It’s been many years in the making; we’re working with production units now and cars are starting to hit the road,” he finishes. “Additionally, we’re seeing a lot of opportunity in the defense sector, and we’re also growing our presence in the entertainment industry, currently working with the world’s largest theme parks. We will continue to expand further into the transportation sector, and as shown, we’re here to support all OEMs in whatever degree that we can.”